Jihad Jane Charged (Hanoi Jane Irritated, Thinking of Suing)

This Jihad Jane story is pretty crazy, no? In case you missed it, a blue-eyed blond from suburban Philadelphia has been charged with plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist and with providing material support to Islamic terrorists. Perhaps the only good thing that will come out of this otherwise alarming development will be a further move away from ethnic profiling (because, you know, it generally doesn’t work). As US attorney Michael Levy says: “[This arrest] shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance.”

Update: Film Editor Mark Asch also points out that the terrorists, like the Pentagon, have clearly learned from their informational screenings of The Battle of Algiers.